'I hope I can inspire some boy or girl to want to be an Olympian for Ireland'

One of the major international sporting events of the year, the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad, will take place in Paris, France, from Friday, July 26 - Sunday, August 11, 2024, writes Martin Quinn.

It is the pinnacle of the sporting career of over 10,000 athletes as they vie for gold, silver or bronze in the Paris Olympics.

The officially selected number of athletes competing for Team Ireland has now reached 122, which has passed the previously largest team ever (116 in Tokyo 2020).

The athletics team are travelling to Paris on a high, following on from the phenomenal performances of the Athletics Ireland team at the European Championships last month.

400m runner and relay racer Sharlene Mawdsley from Newport will be one of a number of athletes competing in their first Olympics and hoping to bring an Olympic medal to county Tipperary, as also will Daire Lynch from Clonmel, who competes with Philip Doyle (from Banbridge) in the Rowing Men’s Double Scull (M2x).

In Tipperary Town and across west Tipperary there is huge support for Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe from Tipperary Town, who competes in the Women’s Rugby Sevens.

A former 100m sprinter with Tipperary Town AC, she took up rugby with Clanwilliam RFC at 15 years of age and has been a scoring machine ever since her debut in Guangzhou in 2014.

Amee-Leigh is Ireland’s record try-scorer, with a whopping 985 points (228 tries) on the World Series; 165 of them this season.

She is the World Sevens Series third highest scorer of all time; was its top scorer in 2019, and was a World Rugby nominee for Sevens Player of the Year in 2022.

Tries 163 and 164 clinched Ireland’s victory over Fiji in May 2023 which ensured Ireland's historic first Olympic spot. She also has nine Six Nations caps.

As a youngster, Murphy Crowe was a top athlete and competed in the 100 metres and long jump with Tipperary Town AC.

She is very appreciative of her athletics history and in interviews always credits her coach Breeda Christie saying: “I’ll always thank my athletics coach, Breeda Christie, she is definitely the reason I’m quick.”

It is 10 years since Amee-Leigh made her debut in the Seven’s Series and over that time she has been inspired by other female athletes such as Sonia O’Sullivan, Katie Taylor, Kellie Harrington and the Irish hockey girls.

“They are all inspirations that I took throughout watching the Olympic Games, and I hope now that I can now inspire some young boy or girl to actually want to be an Olympian for Ireland. That is the purpose of our programme and why we play this sport is just to inspire the next generation,” says Amee-Leigh.

There is a great buzz around Tipperary Town and the wider area in anticipation of Amme-Leigh’s participation in the Olympic Games.

There are banners and posters around the area wishing Amee-Leigh the very best of luck. Ireland Women get their first Olympics underway on Sunday, July 28, when they play Great Britain at 2:30pm.

They then face South Africa at 6pm. Day 2 sees them up against Australia in their final match of the pool stages.

We join with the local community in wishing the very best of luck to Amee-Leigh and all Team Ireland members.